Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz is proposing to build a practice facility on the current site of Parking Lot E, just north of the United Center.

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The Chicago Blackhawks are hoping to bring something besides the Stanley Cup to the Near West Side: a huge new $30 million training facility.

But there's a potential catch.

In a phone interview late yesterday, team owner Rocky Wirtz said he'd begun "putting the numbers together" for a possible 70,000-square-foot practice facility that would be on the site of parking lot E, just northeast of the United Center where the team plays its games and across the street from a similar structure under construction by the UC's other main user, the Chicago Bulls.

Though the hockey facility would be handy both for visiting teams and the Blackhawks, who currently practice a few blocks away at Johnny's IceHouse West at 2550 W. Madison St., Mr. Wirtz suggested his major goal is to leverage the Blackhawks' soaring popularity to promote the sport among youngsters.

'GREAT FOR YOUTH HOCKEY'

Having more space available "would be great for youth hockey in the city," Mr. Wirtz said. "The suburbs all are well-off, but the city really needs more ice surface" for hockey leagues and related sports, he said.

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Photo by Photo by Danny Ecker
Rocky Wirtz

But Mr. Wirtz also made it clear that in exchange for the investment, he'd like a gentleman's agreement with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle that they won't raise the amusement tax on Blackhawks games anytime soon.

The two governments now impose a combined 12 percent levy on tickets — 9 percent from the city and 3 percent from the county — and Mr. Wirtz has been increasingly outspoken on what he contends is a far larger tax burden than most of his competitors pay.

WANTS CERTAINTY ON TAXES

"I don't mind investing in the city. The problem is you don't have (tax) certainty," he told me. "I don't want to worry that, every time the city and the county need money, they're going to raise the tax. It goes right to what our fans pay."

Mr. Wirtz said he's not asking for the current levy to be reduced or that he get help from a tax-increment financing subsidy or the like, only that the amusement tax be held even for a while. "If the city and the county could just cap it, give us some certainty for five or 10 years, it certainly would help," he said.

Asked if the facility definitely would be built if he gets such a commitment, Mr. Wirtz replied, "I think we would (proceed)." The United Center already owns the lot, which means no time needs to be allotted for land acquisition.

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Jonathan Toews

Initial reaction from the city and county was noncommittal.

"Chicago would of course be excited about the prospect of a new hockey facility in the city for our beloved Blackhawks, and we would welcome discussions with the Blackhawks about that possibility," said the mayor's spokeswoman, Sarah Hamilton.

Ms. Preckwinkle's office declined to comment on the proposal. But spokeswoman Karen Vaughn, in response to a question, said its amusement tax has not risen since it was first imposed in 1999. The city's levy went from 8 percent to the current 9 percent in 2009 but, with money short for public employee pensions, both the mayor and aldermen have been looking for an alternative to raising property taxes.

MAY SCALE BACK ANOTHER PROJECT

Mr. Wirtz also said he may pare back the size of a 260,000-square-foot retail/dining complex that he and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf proposed two years ago. The deal has been stalled over lack of agreement on the UC owners' request to the city to at least partially extend a property tax cap that was imposed when the structure was built in 1989.

The full project won't move "until we have a formula for property taxes . . . we at least get something," Mr. Wirtz said. A "smaller-scale" project is "something United Center Ventures is looking at."

Last year, the United Center paid $20 million in amusement and parking taxes, and each playoff game nets the city another $300,000-plus, Mr. Wirtz said.